


Pride

by evilwriter37



Series: Banned Together Bingo 2020 [11]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Ableism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Disabled Character, Disability, Gen, Hinted/Discussed Ableism, Prosthesis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:55:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27767104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup applies for a handicap placard, and an incident in a grocery store parking lot makes him wonder if he should get a cane.
Relationships: Eret & Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless
Series: Banned Together Bingo 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743505
Comments: 16
Kudos: 83
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Disabled People
> 
> Yes, I already got a bingo, but I wanted to do this prompt so badly.

Hiccup tapped the pen against the palm of his hand as he looked over the forms. He’d filled out plenty of forms before of course, but never any like this. These were to get a handicap placard so that he could park closer to stores and whatnot. Of course, he had Toothless, but most stores didn’t like having a dragon in their parking lot, so he also had a car. And, he’d realized over the years, that he needed this placard, this assistance. His dad had acted like he didn’t need it, that since he had the prosthetic he could walk just fine. But there were days with bad pain, days where the prosthetic chafed at him, days where walking was just difficult. 

So he started filling out the forms. He hated having to fill things out in pen. It made him nervous. What if he made a mistake? 

Toothless came over to his desk, sniffed at his hand, made a little cooing sound in question. 

“This is for that handicap placard,” Hiccup told Toothless. “Remember?”

Toothless huffed. Then, he decided that now was a good time to play with Hiccup’s pen. He got the end of it between his gums, tried taking it from Hiccup.

Hiccup laughed. “Come on, Toothless, I’ve got to get this done.” He pulled the pen away from his dragon, pet him on the head, and went back to filling out the forms. Hopefully this would come to fruition. 

  
  


Hiccup eagerly opened the mail from Department of Human Services. This could be the acceptance of his handicap placard. He started reading the letter, wondering where the placard was. His face began to fall. It had been rejected.

“That’s bullshit!” Hiccup cried, throwing down the paper telling him that he wasn’t disabled, or “disabled enough” for a handicap placard. “I’m missing a fucking leg!” He was angry. So angry. He paced a little, pulling at his hair. Maybe there was a number he could call, a person he could talk to to sort this all out. He picked up the paper, looked it over, and found the number. He sat down on his couch with a huff, pulling his phone from his pocket. Time to wait on hold forever, he supposed.

  
  


Hiccup had had to leave a message and hope for someone to call him back. Now, despite the pains in what was left of his leg, he had to go grocery shopping. There wasn’t enough in the fridge to make a meal, and Toothless needed food as well. He was just glad that he could drive by using his right foot, his real foot, on the pedals. Flying was so much easier than driving though, so much freer. He didn’t have to worry about pedestrians or other people on the road. He could just be, him and Toothless, together as they were supposed to be. 

Hiccup looked at the handicap parking spots with, well, it wasn’t disdain, but it wasn’t positive either. Envy. That’s what it was. He was envious of people who had the placard. But what had they had to go through to get it? Had they been rejected like him and had to appeal? Had it been just as frustrating of a process?

Hiccup needed quite a lot of groceries. He was glad he could lean some of his weight on the shopping cart as he went through the aisles. It again made him wonder if he should get a cane for bad days like this. He’d seen some pretty cool canes before. He wouldn’t be embarrassed to have one. It was clear he was disabled, what with his prosthetic and his limp and all. 

Getting all the groceries to the car was difficult. He’d tried getting a spot next to handicap parking, but had to go farther away. Now, he limped through the parking lot, teeth clamped over a pained grunt. Of course it had to be today of all days that he was feeling bad pain.

His leg gave out on him very suddenly, and he fell to the hard concrete of the parking lot, shopping cart rolling away and bumping into a car. Dammit, he should have asked one of his friends to go with him. 

“Are you okay?” came a concerned voice from above him. Hiccup looked up to see a dark-haired man with tattoos across his chin holding out a hand towards him. 

“I’ll be fine,” Hiccup said, taking the man’s hand and letting himself be pulled up. Now that he was off the concrete, he realized that his knees and palms were stinging. When he looked down, he saw tears in his jeans and blood. He sighed. “This day just keeps getting better.” 

“Do you need help?” the man asked of him. Hiccup thought about it for a moment. He didn’t know this man, and didn’t want to come across as a burden. But, his leg was hurting and felt like it could give out on him again.

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Hiccup liked that the man hadn’t forced himself upon him and just started taking care of the issue without having asked. There had been too many times where Hiccup had had that problem. 

The man went and retrieved Hiccup’s shopping cart and came back over to him. “So, where’s your car?”

“That black one over there,” Hiccup said, pointing. They began to make their way to the car, but slowly, keeping an eye on Hiccup’s leg. “What’s your name?” Hiccup asked.

“Eret. You?”

“Hiccup.”

Eret laughed a little, and it was a good sound. “I’m not even going to ask.” They got to Hiccup’s car, and after opening the trunk, Eret began to help Hiccup put the groceries inside.

“You going to need any help with this when you get home?” Eret asked. 

“Nah,” Hiccup said rather confidently. “My dragon can help me.”

“Your dragon helps with the groceries?”

Hiccup smiled and nodded. “Yep. Yep he does.” 

Once the groceries were loaded and the trunk closed, Hiccup turned to Eret.

“It was nice meeting you,” he said. “I, uh, would give you a handshake, but…” He looked at the blood trickling from his hand. He’d have to take care of that when he got home. “But thank you,” Hiccup said. He smiled warmly at Eret. He wondered if it would be weird to ask for his number. 

“It was nice meeting you, Hiccup,” Eret said. “Good luck with everything. And hey, maybe will see each other around?”

“Yeah, hopefully not by me falling in another parking lot,” Hiccup joked. The two laughed a little, and then Eret was heading his separate way.

Hiccup thought of him on the drive home. It had been very lucky that he’d been there. Maybe it really was time for Hiccup to swallow his pride and get a cane. Would he get weird looks because of his age? Most definitely. Did that matter in the long run? No. His comfort and ability was what mattered the most here. 

Toothless did indeed help him with the groceries when he got home. He didn’t mind having his saliva on some of the cartons, especially not when his leg was hurting him as badly as it was. Maybe he should just order out for dinner. 

After cleaning the wounds on his hands and knees, he checked the time, realized he wouldn’t be getting a call from the DHS any time today, and flung himself onto the couch with a heavy sigh. He removed his prosthetic, set it aside, and began massaging at the stump of his leg. Toothless came up beside him, laid his head down in his lap.

“Hey, bud.” Hiccup rubbed him between the ears. “What do you say to pizza for dinner?”

Toothless rumbled an affirmative, so, Hiccup smiled and reached for his phone. 


End file.
